In 2016-17 took place many openlabs to experiment FirstLife in use-cases and real projects related to urban regeneration, valorisation of local resources, community services and so on. Each openlab saw the participation of different actors and similar projects, sharing challenges and ideas to facilitate social innovation and change.

The initiative involved participants in the co-design of a unique social network, contributing actively to enrich the platform with ideas and proposals for coordination, monitoring and evaluation of local projects.

Citytelling - The real-thought-lived city

The lab addressed architects and intellectuals with experience on buildings, public spaces, neighborhoods; artists and writers wanted to give voice to the places; to citizens and tourists that live the city everyday for the first time. Citytelling hosted projects and initiatives related to community mapping, with a strong involvement of citizens to share and discover local resources. FirstLife contributed to giving visibility and facilitating connections between projects and contents.

Resources - Local enterprises for the territory

The focus is the promotion of commercial, handcraft and professional activities in the productive and tourist ecosystem in the city. Resources tested the civic social network FirstLife as a tool to help small enterprises to collaborate with other companies in their networks, as a new participative model to share stories and the professional evolution of the enterprise collecting customers and workers point of view.

Regeneration - Urban regeneration paths

The lab addressed associations, citizen’s groups, local institutions involved in urban regeneration actions in the city, from people to people. Citizens participated to find innovative ways to reuse public spaces or urban commons. FirstLife was the tool to represent the entire regeneration process of a place, collecting and sharing activities and synergies with a participatory perspective.

WeGovernment - New models of shared governance

The openlab involved public administration and local institutions that tested FirstLife in local projects and initiatives regarding the co-design and co-management of public services and spaces, the co-production of new inclusive and integrated services. FirstLife was also tested in the two european projects WeGovNow and Co-City, based on a new model of governance and collaboration between PA and citizens.

Communities - Collaboration in the community services

Communities involved association, cooperatives, spontaneous groups active in the field of proximity and social services, but also projects with a strong impact for the local communities. It was a digital lab to experiment, with FirstLife, new models of internal and external coordination among association, companies, and local institutions in the same sector, improving the social innovation with a participatory approach.

EduLife - School, web education and territory

A lab for schools and educational institutions to facilitate the collaboration among teachers, staff students, families and other territorial organizations. EduLife is a virtual archive of projects developed by schools or classes to improve the continuity between the educational paths and the coordination between the different participating classes. FirstLife mapped and collected the projects from classes and schools; as a civic social network can also be a teaching tool for web education.

Transformation - The changing city

Transformation involved public administration, designer, local committees, facilitators in projects concerning new models to design and manage transformation areas through a participatory process, both on the territory and online. Goal of the project: a more involvement of citizens in the local policy extended the participatory processes, increasing the collaboration between civil society and administration.